Elise Denjean 06h21, April 04, 2022
Christel Heydemann, the new boss of Orange, takes office this Monday, April 4.
Determined, this 47-year-old polytechnician intends to make employees "her priority" and will also have to manage hot issues such as the announced end of the copper network, replaced by fiber.
A woman with the head of Orange.
Christel Heydemann, appointed CEO of the group at the end of January, takes office on Monday.
She succeeds Stéphane Richard, who announced his departure after his conviction in the Bernard Tapie - Crédit Lyonnais affair.
And, she has her work cut out for her.
sensitive files
The 47-year-old polytechnician will not waste time.
She will speak to Orange employees from the beginning of the week to introduce herself.
Then, she will go very quickly to the field, in the East, in stores, on a call platform and on a fiber deployment.
"His priority is the employees," they say internally, rather optimistic that the transplant can take quickly.
In a few weeks, Christel Heydemann will present her roadmap.
But some sensitive files are already on the desk of the new CEO of Orange: the announced end of the copper network replaced by fiber, while some 20 million French people and businesses still depend on the historic network, but also the war in Ukraine and post-Covid.
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Looking to the future with cybersecurity
“It comes after 2 years of pandemic which has put a lid on many subjects”, confides a union representative.
Christel Heydemann will in particular have to clarify the positioning of Orange Bank, which is not taking off, and will have to look to the future with cybersecurity in which the group is investing heavily via its subsidiary Orange Cyberdefense.